First Cut...Problems

I just finished putting the Xcarve together. I am completely new to this, but got the 1000x1000 with the X controller. I go through the initial set up, and use the Z-probe. After I hit the carve button, the router plunges straight down into the wood and takes it off the clamps and doesn’t carve. I was hoping to do a very simple sign with a name and outline of a submarine in the middle. I thought that I had all of the settings for carving into a piece of wood, but it just plunges into the wood at the xy zero place. Am I missing a setting that I should be clicking?

Thanks!

Thanks,
I think I just got it figured out. I initially put the zero block on the waste board surface, not the surface of the material.

I just now have to figure out the configuration, as I put the cut depth at 1/4", but it ended up cutting 1/2" deep.

Thanks again!

Doesn’t the controller have a single step capabillity? I dont use this system but every system I’ve used has a way to single step your way thru the program hus saving you from crashing our tooling. Can you also slow down the feed rate so that you can trigger the emergancy stop before it crashes?

Only if you use them. It was common practice where I worked to single step/ turn down feed rate when running a new part and tooling at least until we made sure something isn’t going to get hinky on us.I also started my shift by running single step/ lower feed rate just in case the person who used the machine before me didn’t leave things where they should have been. I don’t now how many times that practice save both the tool and the part when I started a new job.

There is a free program called CAMotics ( http://camotics.org/ ) that I use to simulate g-code as well. Sometimes I want to take the g-code out of the cad program to test.